ALPINE FLOWERS 251 



matter how many foreign alpines may feel at home here, it is 

 obvious that we can never develop an American style unless we 

 use some of our own wild flowers on a great scale. 



FAMOUS AMERICAN ROCK PLANTS 



Strictly speaking, the moss pink (Phlox subulata) is about the 

 only American rock plant I know which is commonly cultivated 

 the world over, even in its own country, which is the supreme test. 

 But, here again, it is folly to draw any sharp line between plants 

 that grow wild only on rocks and those which also grow in other 

 situations. For instance, bloodroot will grow anywhere, yet it 

 attains its highest beauty, I think, on rocks. The English think 

 so, too, and spend no end of money to establish it in their rock 

 gardens; but it is a hard plant to export, and we can always surpass 

 England on mass effects with bloodroot. 



As near as I can tell the most famous rock-loving perennials 

 that are native to America, and reasonably common even in our 

 gardens, are the following: 



Common Names Scientific Names Colours Season 



Bloodroot Sanguinaria Canadensis white April 



Crested dwarf iris Iris cristata blue April 



Wild pink Silene Pennsylvania rose Apr.-May 



Purple poppy mallow Callirhoe involucrata purple Apr.-Aug. 



Moss pink Phlox subulata crimson pink May 



*Yellow columbine Aquilegia chrysantha yellow May-Aug. 



Wild bleeding heart Dicentra eximia deep rose May-Sept. 



*Fire pink Silene Virginica crimson May-Sept. 



Coral bells Heuchera sanguinea red June-Sept. 



*Mist flower Conoclinium ccelestinum bluish Sept.-Oct. 



Those marked * are the only ones that grow more than a foot 

 high. I must confess that it is not a very strong list from which to 

 pick the big American winners, for the rose, pink, and crimson 

 kinds are not of the most popular shades, especially in the case of 

 the two greatest geniuses in the list. Moss pink, in its wild 



